Machine for making concrete blocks.



G. H. BURGES & J. CURTIS. MACHINE FOR MAKING CONCRETE BLOGKS.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 4, 1910.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON, Dv C.

G.'H. BURGES & J. CURTIS. MACHINE FOR MAKING CONCRETE BLOCKS.

I APPLICATION IFELED JAN. 4, 1910. 1,005,595. v Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.G. H. BURGES & J. CURTIS. MACHINE FOR MAKING CONCRETE BLOCKS.

AYPLIOATION rILjsD JAN. 4, 1910.

1,005,595 Patented Oct. 10,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

IL I,- M a a 0/0 o 1 o o COLUMBIA PMNDCIRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

GEORGE 'HERBERT BURGES AND JOHN CURTIS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR MAKING CONCRETE BLOCKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

Application filed January 4, 1910. Serial No. 536,386.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE HERBERT BURGES and JOHN CURTIS, subjects of the King of England, both residing at 20 Victoria street, London, S. W., in England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Concrete Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for making blocks of concrete or the like, and has particular reference to machines of the type in which a table or mold bottom is hinged or pivoted so that it can be turned to bring the block into position for easy removal. It also has reference to machines in which movable side walls cooperate with the table to form a mold box in which the material is compressed by means of a ram or monkey.

A machine according to the present invention comprises a table or mold bottom hinged or pivoted so that it can be turned to bring the block into position for easy removal in combination with side walls linked together and arranged soas to slide simultaneously into and out of their operative positions, mechanism being preferably provided whereby the initial position of the side walls may be adjusted. The front side wall of the mold box is fixed to the table so that if after the block is formed the table be turned through 90 the block will rest upon its edge on the frontnow the bottomor upon a board placed thereon and be readily accessible for removal. Preferably a stop is provided so that the table normally turns through 90, but provision is made for the removal of this stop to allow the table to turn completely over. In this case a hinged member, such as grid or frame, is attached to the table or to the front, and is adapted to hold the block and prevent it from falling out when the table is turned over. The side walls are preferably mounted upon base plates or guides so that their lower edges are flush with the surface of the table when it is in its normal position, and the amount of simultaneous movement of the walls is such that when they move out after the block has been formed they leave the table free to be turned in the manner previously described.

Then it is desired to make blocks with holes or recesses in them cores are employed mounted upon a frame or support movable up and down beneath the table. The cores are arranged to project up into the mold box through openings made for the purpose in the table and in the separate pallet or mold-bottom when such is employed. The mechanism for raising and lowering the cores may be of any convenient description, for instance, it may take the form of a toothed segment engaging with a rack, and it is preferably linked or connected to the mechanism operating the side walls so that one movement of a lever suffices to bring the side Walls in against the mold-bottom and to move the cores up into their operative position. After the monkey has been allowed to fall or been brought down upon the material in the mold box it is often desirable to subject the material to further compression, and according to this invention toggle-levers and other mechanism hereinafter described are employed for this purpose.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 are perspective views of one construction of machine according to this invention, a portion only being shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan, and Fig. 5 a part sectional elevation showing the mechanism for moving the sides of the mold box. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation showing diagrammatically the mechanism for giving the secondary compression and also illustrating the position of the parts when the cores are raised, and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a grid for use in conjunction with the mold box.

Like letters indicate like part-s throughout the drawings.

The frame of the machine comprises two vertical standards A, a cross plate or bed B, and cross bars or braces C.

The mold box comprises a mold-bottom D, a front or side Wall D formed in one with, or attached to the bottom, and three side walls D D and D capable of sliding simultaneously into their operative positions relatively to the mold-bottom D. The moldbottom D and the front D are pivoted on a shaft E j ournaled in the side frames A and capable of being turned by a hand lever E and thus after the block has been formed the mold-bottom and the front side D can be turned so as to bring the block into a position for easy removal. Fig. 1 shows this turning movement partially accomplished, and normally the lever E is turned until it arrested by a stop F (Fig. 1) in which position the front D of the mold box is horizontal and the block G now standing on its edge can be easily removed. The stop F is so made that it can be removed or taken out of the path of the lever E, and that lever can then be turned still farther forward to bring the bottom D into the position shown in Fig. 3. In this position the block is inverted and is prevented from falling out by means of a grid I-I shown separately in Fig. 7 and attached to the front D in Fig. 5. It will be seen that this grid is pivoted to lugs I-I formed to receive it on the front D.

The side walls D D D are supported in guides J on the base B in such a manner that they can slide into and out of their operative positions in relation to the mold-bottom, the motion of each side wall being parallel to itself. This movement of the side walls is brought about through a lever K acting on a shaft K journaled in the side frames A. This shaft K carries a segment K for a purpose hereinafter mentioned, and the segment is provided with an extension K which may be regarded as a crank fixed on the shaft K. To the end of this crank K is attached a connecting rod or link K having its upper extremity connected to a bell-crank lever L. One arm of this bell crank lever is pivoted as at L, and the other is connected by a bent link L which in its turn is joined to a lug L on a slide D attached to the long side wall or back D When the lever K is in the position shown in Fig. 2 the connecting rod K is pulled down, and the bell crank lever L and link L assume the position shown in Fig. 6. The result is to push the back D in over the bottom D into its operative position. It will be noticed that in this position the pivots at the ends of the link L and the pivot L are all in line, thus the back D will be locked until the shaft K is rotated. Then the lever K is moved forwardwhich can be done after moving the sliding stop K out of its paththe rotation of the shaft K causes the mechanism to take up the position shown in Fig. 5, where it will be seen that the back D is withdrawn clear of the bottom D. The back D is furnished with lugs D (Fig. 4) joined by links D to bell crank levers D pivoted at D and connected by links D with the side walls D D, thus any movement of the back D will be accompanied by simultaneous and similar movement of the side walls D D the side walls moving in over the bottom D as the back moves and vice versa. Fig. 4 shows the sides and back all moved in over the bot tom D.

It will be seen by reference to Figs. 4:, 5 and 6 that there is a space between the front edges of the side walls D D and the front of the mold box D. This space can be filled up by a block or pallet of about the same length as the front D to form a support for the finished block when the hinged bottom is turned over. This space is not shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, where the machine is represented as in use for preparing a block G equal in area to the whole of the mold-bottom D. In such a case wider end plates D D are fitted to the machine so that their front edges meet the front plate D.

In order that there may be initial adjustment of the position of the walls D D D the lugs D and links D are provided with several holes through which they may be connected, the one with the other. In like manner the link L may be attached in two or more positions to the slide D and the position of the links D may be altered relatively to the sides D D. These adjustments allow of blocks of different sizes being made in the same machine, and although the back D cannot be moved farther forward than the position shown in Fig. .L as it comes into contact with the sides D D yet if a narrower block is required a packing block or false front of the requisite size may be placed adjacent to the front D.

Then the blocks are required to have holes through them, cores M are employed. These rest upon, or are attached to plates M mounted on a rack N This rack is capable of vertical movement in a fixed guide C and is operated by the toothed segment K mentioned above. Thus the movement of the cores will be simultaneous with the motion of the walls D D D*. The bed B and the moldbottom D are provided with openings through which the cores M can pass, but such openings only allow the passage of the cores and are closed by the plates M when they are brought into their raised position. Then the blocks are not required to be hollow the cores M are, of course, not employed. In such a case a bot-tom or pallet of any desired construction may be placed on top of the mold bottom D and whatever type of block is to be made a suitable pallet may be inserted as a packing piece or false bottom to regulate the thickness of the finished block. Fig. 1 shows a thick pallet G terial, or insufficient material, in the mold' box is taken up by a spring 0 in the path of a lug or projection N at the top of the rod N. At the back of the rod N is a projection N (see Fig. 6). This is engaged by a tooth or catch P on a chain P which is caused to travel continuously by the rotation of the chain wheels P and P the wheel P being driven from a shaft P which in its turn is driven through gearing P (see Fig. 1) from fast and loose pulleys P on the shaft P On the front of the rod N is a catch N the upper part of which is shaped as a wedge. When the rod is raised through the engagement of the projection i 3 with the tooth P the rod is carried upward and the catch N then comes into contact with two spring-controlled catches It B (Fig. 2). The wedge-shaped portion of the catch N then presses back the catches It R and passes up between them. As soon as the catch N has passed, the catches R R return owing to the action of their springs and prevent the fall of the monkey until the proper time. The lifting mechanism is adjusted so that the monkey is not raised appreciably beyond the level attained when the catch N has passed between the catches R and R, and the weightof the monkey is therefore taken by those catches after the tooth P has become disengaged from the projection N The catch R is connected to one end of the pivoted lever S (Fig. 2), the other end of that lever being operated by a cam S mounted on a shaft S and driven by gearing S from the shaft P The rotation of the cam has the effect of periodically withdrawing the catch R and at such times the monkey N will fall if the other catch R has also been withdrawn. The position of this second catch, which may be regarded as a safety catch, is controlled by a hand lever T, so that the operator may prevent the monkey from falling if it is desirable to do so.

In order to provide a secondary compression for the material in the mold box, toggle-levers U are provided, the lower one of which carries a projection U (Fig. 6), adapted to be brought into contact with the upper side of the projection N The top of the upper toggle-lever U is pivoted as at U to the stationary part C and the bottom of the lower toggle-lever is connected by a link U to another stationary member U. The inner ends of the togglelevers are pivoted as at U to the sheave of an eccentric U mounted upon the shaft S The mechanism is so adjusted that until the monkey has fallen the lug or projection U does not make contact with the projection N upon the back of the monkey rod N; but when the monkey has descended the two projections U and N are brought into engagement and the rotation of the shaft S throws the eccentric into its forward position shown in Fig. 6, thus straightening the toggle-levers U and forcing the monkey farther down with a very strong pressure. The continued rotation of the eccentric removes the projection U from the path of the cooperating projectionv N on the monkey rod in time to allow the monkey to be raised as soon as the projection N is again engaged by the tooth P.

It will be understood that various alterations may be made in the details of construction of the machine without departing from this invention. For instance, the mechanism for giving the secondary compression may be of any convenient form and may be operated by hand instead of automatically in the usual course of the working of the machine. Again, the plates M supporting the cores M may be made without flanges so that they pass up into the openings in the bed B and mold-bottom D.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a machine for making blocks of concrete and the like the combination of supporting standards, a shaft ournaled in such standards, a mold-bottom attached to said shaft, side walls forming with the bottom a mold box, adjustable links connecting the side walls, means for sliding said side walls in and out of their operative positions relatively to the mold-bottom, a ram or monkey adapted to be raised and to fall and compress the material in the mold box, mechanism for raising and releasing the ram, toggle-levers adapted to engage with the rod carrying the ram, mechanism for making such engagement and for straightening the toggles to give a secondary compression to the material in the mold box, and a lever for partially rotating the shaft upon Wl11Cl1 the mold-bottom is mounted to bring the tin ished block into position for easy removal.

2. In a machine for making blocks of concrete and the like the combination of supporting standards, a shaft journaled in such standards, a moldbottom attached to said shaft and provided with openings, side walls forming with the bottom a mold box, adjustable links connecting the side walls, means for sliding said side walls in and out of their operative positions relatively to the moldbottom, cores adapted to enter the openings in the moldbottom, a rack attached to said cores, a sector engaging with said rack, means for partially rotating the sector to raise and lower the cores, a ram or monkey adapted to be raised and to fall and compress the material in the mold box, mecha nism for raising and releasing the ram, toggle-levers adapted to engage with the rod carrying the ram, mechanism for making such engagement and for straightening the toggles to give a secondary compression to the material in the mold box, a lever for names to this specification in the presence partially rotating the shaft upon which the of two subscribing Witnesses.

mold-bottom is mounted to bring the fin GEORGE HERBERT BURGES. ished block into position for easy removal, JOHN CURTIS. v 5 and a hinged grid to hold the block While Witnesses:

the bottom is being turned. B. V. MACEY, In testimony whereof We have signed our CARL R. LOOP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

